Hungarian design studio Hello Wood has teamed up with the Municipality of Budapest City yet again to revive a forgotten public space with a dazzling summer haven that’s free and open to everyone, 24 hours a day. Located beside City Hall Park, the temporary, solar-powered park is Hello Wood’s latest POP-UP Park, a short-term urban intervention with eye-catching street furniture. This year’s version is inspired by the Mediterranean with its use of olive trees and wave-shaped seating. This year’s POP-UP Park serves as both a respite from the summer heat as well as a destination for outdoor exercise. Inspired by the World Cup craze, as well as Budapest’s upcoming status as the European Capital of Sport in 2019, Hello Wood teamed up with HardBodyHang to incorporate free-to-use street workout equipment that can be enjoyed by both amateur and professional athletes alike. The summer-only intervention also includes ping pong and Teqball tables — a mainstay of last year’s POP-UP Park — and chessboards. “The park is open to all 24 hours a day, available to all walks of life: the traveling tourist arriving into the city from the airport, the businessperson eating their lunch, local elderly people meeting to relax and chat or the homeless,” Hello Wood explained. “We wanted this sense of democracy to be epitomized by the POP-UP Park, a unique, free-to-use space that was put together in conjunction with the Municipality of Budapest — who recognized the power of utilizing the space temporarily until its development is completed and supported its creation.” Related: Confluence Park’s new solar-powered pavilions collect rainwater and provide shade The designers also installed colorful wave-shaped wooden seating and structures to make the pop-up park an inviting space to linger and lounge. To warm up the otherwise drab, cobblestone-lined square, Hello Wood brought in palms and olive trees for a Mediterranean touch. Sail shades provide additional shading, while string lights add a romantic twinkle at night. Moreover, Hungarian startup Platio supplied solar panels to power charging stations, where visitors can charge their laptops and other electronic devices. The POP-UP Park will be available until October. + Hello Wood Images by BVA

Comments Off on PHOTOS: The most amazing Park(ing) Day 2015 parks from around the world

Happy Park(ing) Day everyone! This week we asked you to send in photos of the most amazing pop-up parks taking over parking spots near you – and today we’re publishing them for all the world to see. From San Francisco to Baltimore, Australia, Europe and beyond, click through our gallery to see all the fun ways people transformed bare patches of pavement into green urban oases. If you’d like to join in, there’s still time to contribute – send a photo to editor@inhabitat.com with a short description of the park and who created it and we’ll share it with our readers! You can also tag your Park(ing) Day photos with #Inhabitat on Facebook , Instagram , or Twitter . Read the rest of PHOTOS: The most amazing Park(ing) Day 2015 parks from around the world

Comments Off on Park(ing) Day 2014: The Most Amazing Pop-Up Parks From San Francisco and Beyond!

Happy Park(ing) Day everyone! Today’s the day when parking spots across the States and around the world turn over a green leaf as pop-up public parks. This annual celebration of public space is one of our favorite events of the year – all it takes is a bag of quarters and some comfy seats to reclaim the roads for some rest and relaxation. We’re hitting the streets to bring you a look at this year’s most amazing parks, so keep checking back – and if you spot a great park nearyby send a photo and a description to editor [at] inhabitat [dot] com and we’ll include it in our post! Read the rest of Park(ing) Day 2014: The Most Amazing Pop-Up Parks From San Francisco and Beyond! Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: eco-art , green architecture , green art , green design , green events , green space , Landscape Architecture , park , parking day , parking day 2014 , parking lot , parking spot , Parklet , parks , pop up park , rebar , sustainable design , Urban design , urban space

We want to see your Park(ing) Day photos! Today is Park(ing) Day and we’re on the hunt for the coolest pop-up parks reclaiming parking spaces around the world! Park(ing) Day is a chance to take back the streets from gas guzzling vehicles in a creative way – and in past years we’ve seen everything from mini golf courses to tiny soccer fields and even spaces to stretch out into warrior pose . So are you joining in on the Park(ing) Day fun where you live? We want to see your pics! Tweet us your photos at @Inhabitat with the hashtag #ParkingDay, or email us at editor[at]inhabitat.com with ‘Parking Day’ in the subject line. And don’t forget to tell us where you spotted your Park(ing) Day park so that we can share your find with other readers! + Park(ing) Day Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: Art , Gardening , green design , parking day , parking day 2013 , parking meter park , Parklet , pop up park , public art , public space , sustainable design , Urban design , urban intervention

Comments Off on Whale Spotter App Seeks to Reduce Collisions with Ships in San Francisco Bay

Whale and commercial ship collisions are a tragic side effect of global shipping, but a new app called Whale Spotter has been designed to arrest such occurrences. In the busy ports of the San Francisco Bay Area , more than 7,300 large ships head through the Golden Gate each year. Their routes often coincide with whales swimming along the continental shelf, where their food supply is plentiful. In order to reduce the amount of collisions and whale deaths each year, government officials teamed up with sailors, fishermen and marine scientists to build an app that can spot whales on a user-friendly, interactive map. Read the rest of Whale Spotter App Seeks to Reduce Collisions with Ships in San Francisco Bay Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: clean tech , commercial shipping , global shipping , green gadgets , green tech , San Francisco , san francisco bay , whale collisions , whale spotter , whale spotter application , whale spotting , whales

Comments Off on 250 MW Nevada Solar Farm To Be Built With Chinese Solar Panels

Chinese company Trina Solar will supply 1.1 million 250-watt solar panels for a 250-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Nevada . When the project is completed, it will be one of the biggest solar photovoltaic power plants in the world. The project, located in the desert town of Boulder City about 20 miles from Las Vegas, is the third expansion of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s Copper Mountain Project . When the project is completed in 2015 the total solar capacity will be up to 458 MW. Read the rest of 250 MW Nevada Solar Farm To Be Built With Chinese Solar Panels Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: chinese solar , nevada , solar farm , solar panels , Trina Solar